A New Beginning
by Yesilovebunnies
Summary: Rachel is forced to drop out of college and start a farm life like her sister, Claire. When she arrives, she is shocked to find out that the once prosperous village is in shambles! Will she be made to bring it up to its former glory or will she be brought down by the lack of business? A certain somebody may be able to help her. Rated T for language. Cover art made by me.
1. Spring 2

**Author's Note:**

**Hi! So, this is my first fan fiction and I am very pleased that you have found it! I won't be following every single event in the game, but I will include the festivals and birthdays and the cleverness of the heroine, Rachel (nicknamed Rio in this story), who can and **_**will**_** mess with the villagers, etc. I'm bent on the possibilities of Neil or Allen pairing up with Rio but so far Neil is winning me over. I hope you enjoy my imagination. Follows, reviews, and favourites are highly appreciated!**

**P.S. If there are any typos, grammatical errors, or wrong dialogue in the events, please notify me! If you are good at grammar, I would be happy to have my chapters proofread. Thank you!**

**WARNING: Rated T for language.**

**DISCLAIMER: **_**I do not own Harvest Moon. Copyright infringement absolutely not intended.**_

•••

_Name: __**Rachel**_

_Birthday: __**Spring 8**_

_Continue with these settings?_

•••

**Spring 2**

The moment I stepped foot onto Echo Village's riverbank, I felt my chest lift up considerably. The air was clean and crisp, and the space was wide open and clean, unlike the big but polluted city that I came from. There were several animals playing with one another, and I had the urge to cuddle a cute little bunny. It reminded me of all my other beloved fur balls when I was a little girl. I had about, let's say, eleven? Yes, yes, I guess so. I can't remember their names though.

Wait! _This is a little off topic. _Hold up. Did I just say off-topic to _myself_? And _why_ exactly am I talking to _myself_? Oh, well, guess they're just first-day jitters. Maybe I'll play with the animals to calm myself down. I was always good with them. The only problem is, all the ones I approached were afraid, and if I were to step any closer, they would run away or simply attack me to defend themselves.

To be honest, I wouldn't blame them. _I_ wouldn't want to be picked up by a stranger.

I guess playing with the animals is off my 'Calm-myself-down' list. Maybe walking around and enjoying the fresh scenery would be nice. Slowly but surely making my way through the gorgeous landscape called Echo Village, I pondered about my soon-to-be worries.

"Taxes, bills, house _and_ farm work, purchases, marketing strategies, financial success, friends with benefits, etc. Am I overthinking things too much?" I wondered aloud. Walking up the little slope to my right, my boots made soft tapping sounds on the flat slabs of wood nailed to the ground. Spotting a sleeping monkey on the flowerbed to my left, I tiptoed as quietly as possible and made my way to the bridge. Hoping that I didn't disturb it, I wondered, _surely having a little field trip wouldn't hurt, would it?_

Pulling out a map from one of my tacky cow pockets, I took a glance of where to go. From where I was, I came from the little exit on the middle-to-the-right area of the map, and now on the bridge in the river area, heading towards the Mountain. Good. Familiarizing myself with new places always helped, like my parents kept telling me when we went on camping trips with big sister Claire. At least _she_ was successful. Two years of work in Mineral Town for her was a breeze, considering how much money she shipped off to our parents and I during my college years. That was a lot of zeros.

Ah, yes, college. I dropped out when my parents told me I would be better off as a farmer than a vet. I guess the tuition was too much to bear, even if Claire was sending tons of cash by the month. I did want to become a vet in a snug little apartment that would also serve as my clinic, with said clinic downstairs and my living quarters upstairs, taking care of one dog, one cat, and one bunny that would get along well with each other. To me, that was paradise. Too bad I had to sell my dream apartment just months after I got it, hearing the news from my parents. They did see a good side to my college course, stating that "In farming, you could apply what you have learned to farm animals, like cattle and sheep. There are dogs and cats too, Rachel. Farm life is very rewarding." _I'd_ say. I grew up as a city girl, and even if I adapt to my surroundings easily, the farm work won't have too good a toll on my limbs. I was, after all, the fragile little weakling in my family.

I was a little surprised to see that dad actually saved this farm for me and not Claire. She had to look for it on an ad for Pete's sake, and was forced to see that it was actually a crappy abandoned farm that nobody wanted. But seeing as she quit her job already, she had no choice.

Hey, maybe dad's farming interest got revived because of that. So he shipped me off here, to continue the legacy. Oh well. I should move on with my little trip.

Walking up the mountain path and finding a neat spring, I of course, being the curious little person that I am, peered to look. Turns out, it was crystal clear, not tainted by even a single intruding chemical.

"Amazing…" I mumbled. But since I didn't have all the time in the world, I had to go and sightsee in the forest before I was found and scolded for being late. Momma and Daddy did say to go their good friend, Dunhill, so after this trip I had to run down through the river and pretend I just arrived. _Hehe._

•••

After looking through the forest, I did, of course, retrace my steps using the map and arrived back at the River, standing exactly beside where the little wooden signpost stood. The intricate carving was very precise, and it was mesmerizing; I always liked art, even if it was a simple carving that wasn't even a picture. In fact, I'm an artist. I have five sketchpads in my rucksack with three filled to the brim, and with these sketchpads, I have packed five number two pencils, a sharpener, coloured pencils, H, B and HB pencils (for the fine art of shading, of course), and a book on art techniques. In this way I don't have to make a lot of trips to the city for more art materials. It did take a toll on the space capacity in my rucksack though, not that I minded. I would rather have my other stuff shipped off here in a few days' time than to wait for my art stuff for that long. I can't live without them. Thankfully, my family supported this ability of mine.

Oh no. I got lost in my thoughts again. I was distracted very easily, and when I was, Claire always helped me out of it. I miss her. Great, now I'm thinking about relationships. I'm really awkward in relationships.

Like, _really_ awkward.

I'm an introvert, and I prefer to be silent and just listen. I _do_ know how to hold a conversation and I _do_ have friends, but too much interaction just gets me exhausted. I really don't like people who automatically assume that introverts like me are extremely shy. I just hope I don't screw up and stutter to people like I usually do when meeting someone new. Don't get me wrong though. I know how to fight, and I also consider myself as decently badass, which clearly means you don't mess with me without at least a scratch mark or two.

Hey, what about love interests?

I wonder if I'll meet somebody here. I never had a crush, because in my school years, the cute guys were all assholes deep down. I was kinda tomboyish and I did make friends with them, but they were still jerks I failed to fix (I feel really sorry for the girls who attempted to date them for more than four months). Only some of my guy friends were nice but I never developed crushes on them. My parents did say not to date until after college and when I started working—and that is clearly right now—but I think I'll just stay single for the rest of my life. Staying with family, friends and animals will keep me happy anyway. But then there _is_ a possibility that vow would be broken by a seemingly-nice guy who's really just another asshole. That's still a small chance though, and I'm glad that it is.

When I finally took my eyes off said signpost and stopped worrying about my future life in this place, there was a limp and unmoving body on the ground.

…

_A BODY ON THE GROUND!_

I jumped a little then calmed down after internally screaming for three seconds, then panicked again. First, I started to recognize it as a man. I know! Water! Hurriedly running over to the small stream that ran through the ground right to my left, I started to fill my empty canteen to the brim for the *cough_old_cough* man. Rolling him over, I slowly poured the water in his slightly opened mouth. He coughed a little (or rather, _a lot_). I should've lifted his head a little to improve the flow of the fluid. At least he's awake now.

After a really long introduction (and my complaints about him "putting me to good use"), he led me to his house and explained the system of health and how to take care of myself now that I had this whole load of farm work ahead of me (even though I already knew how to take care of myself since I was ten). After the meal and brief lecture, he led me outside to go to _the_—I'm sorry—_my_ farm. On the way out, there were four people gathered around the pathway leading into the River, where Dunhill and I previously came from. Two women (one was, *cough_old_cough*), one man and a child were talking to one another, seemingly saying their goodbyes, from what I could hear. Turns out that the man needed to bring his son elsewhere because they couldn't find any business here. Then they set off, with the women tagging along and—

_They couldn't find any business here._

_They couldn't find any. Business. Here._

_**HOLY SHIT.  
HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO FARM SUCCESSFULLY HERE WITHOUT ANY BUSINESS?!**_

Breaking down internally, I started to formulate a plan to get my ass outta here overnight.

_After cancelling the delivery of my bags I could take the midnight bus over at the second station after taking the train and—_

"…As you might have figured out by now, we don't have many people living here. You can count them on one hand…" Dunhill said as he broke my train of thought. Not to worry, a new train of insults replaced it. Like; _NO SHIT DUNHILL! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU NOT SAY THAT IN YOUR LETTERS?! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE YOU—_

"It is a shame." I said as I hung my head low. "This town is not with its appeal!" My head quickly snapped up as he changed his tone. "It's overflowing with nature and the people are kind and honest." He continued. _It's obviously overflowing with nature but _not all_ the people are honest_, I thought as I shot him a glare that thankfully went unnoticed.

"But that alone isn't enough to operate a successful town. The falling number of people means there's no work, and that drives more people away. It's a vicious circle."

_Damn straight it's a vicious circle, and I have no plan to get sucked into it._

"Sorry for hitting you with all this right after you got here. I just don't want to misrepresent what's going on here in town. Let's put troubling talk aside and go see the farm. Come on!"

"Sure, lead the way." I replied, trying to mask my doubt.

And with that, we went. He sure is good at changing his mood, but I'm better at seeing through these kinds of things. What does he not want to misrepresent? All this is just too complicated to actually understand.

•••

I am now the owner of Echo Farm. Wow. Just, wow. Everything seems _so worth it_ now.

This is even better than owning my old dream apartment. This much land makes me feel like I'm in heaven. After softly closing the door, I set my rucksack over on to the table and started the first phase of unpacking. It looks like the workers moved over all the comfy furniture I had ordered three weeks before. The bill was already paid off by Claire, and strangely enough there were two letters with a considerably big rectangular-ish gift box beside them.

The first one was from my parents. In the envelope there was, of course, a letter with _five G 1000 bills_. That's like a dang ton of money for me! But first I had to read the letter. It turns out that they paid off everything as a housewarming gift as well as chipping in on a gift (probably the box) and ordered for my furniture to be delivered today, which is one hell of a bill if they really did have everything sent here early. I feel touched, really touched. I mean c'mon, that is a _big_ bill. After tucking the letter away for safekeeping, I proceeded to the next one, which was from Claire. Who else would send me letters aside from our parents?

She also chipped in on the gift and decided to send me a ton of funds for the next five months, stating that "Giving you a head start in farming feels good."

I never knew she was this nice, judging that we bickered and argued a lot when we were kids. I should never have anonymously pranked her hardcore in front of her crush when we were teens causing her to be humiliated and embarrassed for the rest of the school year and five months afterwards. I feel regret and remorse now. Oh well. Guess I'll have to pay her back tenfold even if it isn't needed.

After showering and changing into my bunny pajamas and bunny slippers and unpacking my rucksack, I quickly restocked my fridge and cupboards with the food I brought (3 large bags of regular Lay's, one 1.5 liter bottle of Coke and takeout breakfast, lunch and dinner for five days along with several cans of pork n' beans with three cartons of chocolate mousse cupcakes). I finally opened the gift box that sat on the pine table and uncovered a nice cowgirl hat with a cow print. It was cute, and it matches my work outfit well. I bet Claire picked it. She was the popular fashionista way back then.

At 9 o'clock, after fully completing the task of unpacking in a mere three hours along with exploring the house quite a bit (even if it was very small), I finally flopped onto my bed, pulled up the covers, turned off the light then started to ponder my day and drift off to sleep.

_Maybe I could stay here after all… I could make shipments, cook, plant, harvest, and so on and so forth…_

_I'll make Momma, Daddy, and Claire proud…_

_I'm s__ur__e__o__f__i__t…_

**Saving…**


	2. Spring 9

**A/N: **Alright, I said I would make Spring 3 but I'm just too lazy! I'd love to pick my rusty old game back up too but since I already finished it I have no reason to make a new file just to see the second day events, and when I watch it on YouTube, I get bored since it's so LONG. On a final note, I picked Neil, since tsundere cuties are what I'm attracted to, and Spring 9 seems like the best day to pick up on the second chapter of the story.

**Special thanks to PrimoGiotto5510** for the (only) favourite (and ouch, my feelings)! I know it's bad to continue if I just update when I get reviews/favourites but since this has been lying in the dust for a while I decided to update for you, the person who really cares about this story! I just needed a little boost, is all. I'm sorry if I won't update sometime soon, honestly! Anyways, I tried to make this long enough to make up for the time gap. Enjoy!

•••

**Spring 9**

**Loading…**

I hate mornings. They make me feel like shit, and Monday mornings make me feel twice as worse. The alarm clock just added to the bullshit called my stressful emotions. After slamming my hand on the snooze button, I cracked an eye open praying to whoever may help me not to make the clock say eight. At the sight of 6: 49, I bolted out of bed and showered as fast I could. I couldn't waste a single minute of work.

Finally, at 6: 57, I headed out the door. My hair was high up in a ponytail and the hat was more than willing to cooperate. The recipe that was called Herb Soup worked wonders on my mood and helped me realized that cooking wasn't so bad and that I wasn't actually the worst cook in the world after all.

Walking towards my fields, the soft tapping noise my feet made on the cobblestone path from the small house helped soothe my ever-increasing stress build up. Getting my watering can, I let my lovely plants soak up.

I finally finished at 7: 22, and after shoving the old thing into my rucksack, I turned around, only to meet a cow who was munching happily on the thick patch of grass beside my fields.

_Okay, so after a week on the job I'm turning nuts,_ I thought to myself. _Seems legit, considering a ton of things have happened over the last week. Like Dunhill teaching me how to use a mailbox and explaining every single item in my house. Yeah, I guess a cow appearing behind me is very legit._

So playing along with my hallucination, I pet the cow and let it graze along my property. I sat down on the grass, and it followed my lead and lay down as well, still munching happily on the newfound food. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity for me to practice drawing animals, I took out one of my two unoccupied sketchbooks and an H pencil for sketching. I then started to do small, fine outlines on the first page, the sharp tip of the pencil flawlessly drawing my idea for me.

"Well, it seems it's taken a liking to you."

I swiftly turned around and raised the pencil like a dart. "And just _who are you_ to sneak up behind a girl? Move and I'll throw. I'm warning you." I steadied myself in a stance and got my sickle as a secondary weapon, just in case.

"Hey, watch it! I'm just here to deliver the cow, Dunhill's housewarming gift. Geez, what a way to greet your neighbour. You're weirder than I thought." He retorted sassily.

"Well then, _excuse me, sass-ass_." I spat back, keeping all my stuff and motioning for my new cow to come over. His face changed to that of an intense frown. "What's your name anyways?"

"Neil." He glared.

I glared back into his red eyes, and I think I felt him shy away a little. _Aw, poor guy can't stand up to a girl. Little shit._

"So what, you going to name her or not?" Neil said.

"Hmm. I'd say her name would be… Bessie." I replied.

"Seriously? Tch, as if I care." He said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Oh, you wanna tussle big guy? I'm game." I said, aiming to intimidate him.

Neil stared back, but this time I saw surprise in his eyes. The moment passed as quickly as it came and he shook his head. "I knew there wasn't any point in delivering this. Look, do you know how to take care of animals or not?" He said, looking away and avoiding my challenge.

"I smell a fucking loser." I sang in a taunting tone, and crossed my arms. "And of course I know how to take care of a cow. I'm not a stupid ass," I sassed. "…unlike a certain someone." I managed to say under my breath.

"What was that?!" He angrily demanded.

I stuck out my tongue at him in reply.

"Urgh, never mind. Just take these so we can be done with it." He handed me what I recognized as a milker, a brush and a pitchfork.

"You know how to use these or not?" he asked me.

"Of course I do." I grabbed all that he had to offer and shoved everything in my rucksack.

"What a girl she is…" he mumbled.

"I heard that." I said.

"I meant for you to hear it." He sassed.

"Look who's a jackass." I replied.

"Look who's talking." He retorted.

I pouted and gave him the finger.

"And here I thought Dunhill called you innocent." He commented, and I could see that he sweat dropped a little bit.

"Well now you see that he's wrong." I replied.

"Anyways, I'm an animal dealer, if you haven't already no—"

"Who would notice with your punk-rock getup anyways?" I cut him off at the last second.

"You know what? Never mind. I never planned to get sucked into welcoming the so-called new girl anyways. My shop is open on every weekday except Friday. It's at the plaza, so if it's raining, there's no shop, alright?" He finished, and then stormed off.

"WIMP!" I shouted. He began quickening his pace and managed to leave without uttering sassily back.

_I guess he'll keep me entertained until I get this farm back on track._ I thought to myself, and then began with my many duties.

•••

After making it out of the forest with my rucksack filled to the brim with insects for the fifth time, I saw Neil at his booth, keeping himself occupied by tending to his animals. Once in a while in-between my shipping trips we would share an intimidating stare, but other than that no other form of communication was made between us. After dumping nearly all the contents of my rucksack into the now filled-to-the-brim-with-insects shipping bin, I entered Kohana to buy a bag of Fodder seeds.

"Well hello, dear. What would you like?" The frail old lady, Hana, asked me.

"One bag of Fodder seeds, please." I replied.

"Here you go, dearie." She handed me the tiny bag and I handed her the needed amount of gold, which she tucked safely in her desk drawer.

"Thank you!" I smiled and headed out.

"My pleasure, come again!" She waved goodbye. "Oh, I almost forgot, before you go, I'd like to wish you luck on handling Neil."

I stopped pushing away the sliding door and turned around.

"Um, excuse me, Hana?" I smiled a bit.

"Oh, it's nothing dearie! It's just that it hasn't even been a day that he came back from his trip and already I saw that he was storming out of your farm this morning. Just wishing you some luck on dealing with him. He's shy, is all." She said, quite surprised at how I seemed so startled. "Goodbye then!" She said, waving once more.

I laughed nervously a bit. "Um, bye." I waved back and slid the door shut.

_Well shit. Why do I have a feeling we're seen as a couple?_ I pondered. _Meh._ I swatted the thought away, thinking that if I really needed to wonder about it, I had to do it _after_ I bought some Fodder from him. His store wasn't closed yet anyways, it was only 4:37 PM, and if I didn't buy anything for poor Bessie, she wouldn't get all the nutrients she needed from plain old farm grass. After deciding and putting my annoying bullshit feelings and thoughts aside, I made it up the hill to see Neil sitting idly on a chair.

I breathed in and out, and then walked up to him. Finally making it to the small booth, I picked up a pamphlet displaying what he had in stock. One piece of fodder is priced to 110 gold. A piece _does_ include 5 meals. _Seems legit._

"I need 3 pieces of Fodder." I said, and presented 330 gold to him.

He stood up, gathered what I had asked, took my money and handed the bag over. "Here." I took it from him and put the bag in my rucksack.

"Oh, and one more thing." I said. I pulled out a bottle of milk I collected from Bessie and placed it on the counter between us. "Here's an _I'm sorry_ gift."

He got the glass bottle and kept it, but not without blushing quite a bit. "H-How did you know I liked this? …T-Thanks anyways." He managed to utter.

"Hana was right. You really are shy." I smiled mischievously and chuckled a bit. "What a tease." I then walked away, knowing that he blushed like a tomato. _Such fun this village is turning out to be, even if it is quite empty. I'll just keep giving him gifts, and hopefully he'll lower his prices. Taking advantage of people has never been this fun! Maybe I'll do the same with everyone, starting tomorrow. Hehe._

•••

Entering my farm with my hoe in hand, I began tilling one of my empty fields for the extra fodder. I still wasn't used to all this farm work, so I had to take a break after two or three swings of the rusty but durable tool. After thirty minutes of successfully tilling eight squares, I began to plant the seeds from the tiny pouch. Soon enough I was finished watering all the little seedlings. I then herded Bessie into the barn and fed her the fodder I had bought earlier from Neil.

Since I was done with all my farm work, I could finally have a nice, warm shower to keep my energy up to make dinner. After stepping inside the quaint little house and taking off my boots and socks, I sat down on the table in the middle of the room/whole house and began taking out all the ingredients I had collected from the forest, river and mountain and headed to the fridge for the leftover crops that I had saved for myself last week. Tonight I had settled for turnip salad. Lining up all the needed ingredients on the kitchen counter, I tidied up my things in my rucksack and stored what needed to be stored, then took a relaxing shower. After I changed into my comfy sheep pajamas and matching slippers, I started making dinner. After gulping down the river water I had brought home and wolfing the whole bowl of salad hungrily, I sat contented on the wooden chair and planned what I needed to do for this week. After I had gotten my financial journal that was sent here a few days ago in an extra duffel bag with all my other stuff, I began taking notes of things.

First, I had to deal with all the upcoming taxes. The only bill I'd have to pay here is the electricity bill, actually, so it doesn't seem so bad living here after all, what with the whole place being so cheap and affordable so far, especially when the sum Claire gave me could pay off a year and a half's worth of electricity bills for this single house. The river was clean and nearby, and the water didn't taste at all. Alright, so that was done.

Next was how I was going to manage my farm. I guess I could spare a few thousand gold worth of seeds, which would be a great investment anyways. I could plant turnips and potatoes for this spring, along with Marguerite flowers for a boost in profit. That way I could save enough money to fix this place up without using so much of the gold Claire had given me. Check.

Oh yes, the final thing I need to resolve, my image and persona as a neighbour, farmer, villager, and woman. This should be easy. So far, the only people in this village are Dunhill, Emma, Hana, and Neil. I could act like a cute, innocent little sweetheart for the rest of my days here and my reputation would be flawless. I don't think Neil would spill the beans anyways. Even if he did, all the other people wouldn't buy it, since I have made quite the believable act while he was gone. Oh, I'm _so_ brilliant. I could just keep the merciful act up of running this farm and they could possibly lower their prices and I could have friends with benefits. This is _genius_. What a way to start a farm life! If it took Claire _just two years_ to boot up her farm and become successful, it should take me less than that to do the same! Check!

Well I guess everything's done. Well, all except for two things. First, there's no internet, and second, there's no television. How did I even live a week without them? I never knew I coped without much of any technology so well. Must be the nature's gotten to my city senses and wiped me clean of the need of radiation. In this case, I guess I at least have my sketchbooks as a form of passing the time. That's good to know. Glancing at my alarm clock, which read 8:32 PM, I realized I needed to sleep, even if it was still early. It seems like farm work loves making me sleep, which now makes me love it even more than usual.

After keeping everything away and snuggling under the fluffy comforter, I turned off the light and slowly drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

**Saving…**


	3. Author's Note

Okay, I'm working on the third chapter for this, but there are three things hindering me from doing this:

1. Pokemon X

2. School

3. Lack of Sleep ( I blame #2)

I apologize for the delay! Don't worry, semester break is fast approaching and I will get the next chapter up by then, just give me a span of 2-5 days. Pokemon might keep me from doing this though, but I can't resist! X is just too addicting to quit!

This will be replaced with the third chapter soon.

PS. Thank you for the reviews, I will take all of your suggestions into consideration. And a note to Anonymousgirl88, this suggestion will come to action! Thank you all for reviewing! To be honest, as what I have discussed with PrimoGiotto5510, I don't want to be the author who only updates when he/she gets faves, reviews, or follows. I will try to update as fast as possible; I hate the feeling I get when a fave author of mine doesn't update in months (or worse yet, years). Please bear with me, my brain is having creative block!

Also, look forward to a new cover image. The one up there looks creepy and I don't even know why I put it up in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I draw fine, but I think my tablet refused to act like a real pencil at the time. Have a look at my deviantart, yesilovebunnies . deviantart . com (remove the spaces)


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